Recently, Brian Downey featured the Antietam entry in the Time-Life Books Voices of the Civil War series over at Behind Antietam on the Web.There are a total of 18 books in this series (I think), and I have all but the one on the Shenandoah Valley in 1864.Of course there is one on First Bull Run.

I echo Brian’s sentiments with regard to the quality of the Antietam volume, and the same can be said about First Manassas.This volume benefits from the text contributions of the late Brian Pohanka, David Thomson and friend Dana Shoaf of America’s Civil Warmagazine.

This book does suffer from what is in my mind a common distraction in most studies of the campaign, and that is the perceived need (right or wrong) to cover everything that occurred prior to the campaign itself.Unlike other volumes in the series which usually lead into the featured battle by filling in the blanks since the previous major engagement, the first 73 pages of the 160 page First Manassas summarizes everything back to the outbreak of the rebellion.This includes the fighting in western Virginia.All things considered, that’s a minor complaint and I can understand the reasoning behind the decision.The battle, even the campaign, shouldn’t be viewed in a vacuum.

The book is packed with extracts from diaries, letters and memoirs, and has some nice maps.But the photos and illustrations are what set it apart.I wish I was as good at scanning and editing images as are some of my fellow bloggers.I have downloaded PhotoShop Elements and hope to have some time later on in September to learn how to use it.

A note on maps: it’s difficult to believe that good maps of an area so close to the nation’s capital were hard to come by, but I’ve run across a few that show such glaring errors as the Warrenton Turnpike heading straight into Manassas Junction.Here’s one from the August 3, 1861 edition of Harper’s Weekly (click on the image for a full view):

I’ve added a new website under Links to the right.In the interest of full disclosure, I serve on the Board of Directors of the Save Historic Antietam Foundation (SHAF), an organization dedicated to the preservation of the area in and around the battlefield of Antietam.Through the efforts of friend Brian Downey, we have revamped the website and added pages with news items, membership information, merchandise ordering and other swell stuff.Visit the site at http://shaf.org.

Dulce bellum inexpertis

“I am sending you these little incidents as I hear them well authenticated. They form, to the friends of the parties, part of the history of the glorious 21st. More anon.”

About

Hello! I’m Harry Smeltzer and welcome to Bull Runnings, where you'll find my digital history project on the First Battle of Bull Run which is organized under the Bull Run Resources section. I'll also post my thoughts on the processes behind the project and commentary on the campaign, but pretty much all things Civil War are fair game. You'll only find musings on my “real job” or my personal life when they relate to this project. My mother always told me "never discuss politics or religion in mixed company”, and that's sound advice where current events are concerned.

The Project

This site is more than a blog. Bull Runnings also hosts digitized material pertaining to First Bull Run. In the Bull Run Resources link in the masthead and also listed below are links to Orders of Battle, After Action Reports, Official Correspondence, Biographical Sketches, Diaries, Letters, Memoirs, Newspaper Accounts and much, much more. Take some time to surf through the material. This is a work in process with no end in sight, so check back often!